About Gantt Charts. Use MS Word to Create a Gantt Chart

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 15 About Gantt Charts Gantt Charts are what most project managers think of when they hear project plan. A Gantt cha chart that displays tasks over time. Visually someone can tell how long projects will last and wh Many ways exist to create Gantt charts. This tutorial explains two. Using Microsoft Word is th the least feature rich. Microsoft Excel is the best option particularly with Office 2007 or newer edited throughout the project the chart updates. The most widely used product in industry is Microsoft Project. Many free programs also exist that have a lot of features. Use MS Word to Create a Gantt Chart 1. Change the orientation to landscape 2. Insert a new table with the following characteristics. Rows equals the number of days available plus one. Columns equal the number of months multiplied four, then add one.

2 Page 2 of Highlight the table and choose "Properties."

3 Page 3 of Change the "Preferred width" to 100%. 5. From the "Column" tab click "Next Column" to adjust "Column 1" to 30%. Click "OK." 6. Highlight all but the most left cell. Right click and "Distribute Columns Evenly."

4 Page 4 of Label the top left column Tasks. List the tasks that the project will require

5 Page 5 of 15 choose "Merge Cells." 9. Continue merging groups of four cells across the top row. NOTE: If after doing this procedure the columns do

6 Page 6 of 15 necessary. 11. Add Start and end date information to each task. 12. Highlight the cells that represent the approximate dates for each task, then under "Table Tools" and "Design" and choose a color. You may wish to choose

7 Page 7 of 15 Use MS Excel to Create a Gantt Chart 1. Create and complete columns that include the tasks to be completed, start dates, and end dates. 2. Label the fourth column as "Duration." 3. The duration column needs to be calculated based on start and end dates. This is so that if you have to adjust start or end dates during the project duration will automatically be adjusted as well. In the first duration cell subtract the start date from the end date. You can use function or type in the cell. 4. Copy the function you just created to the cells below by hovering over the bottom right corner of the cell until a cross appears. From there, click hold and drag over the

8 Page 8 of 15 cells below. Push play on the video to the right to see this step demonstrated. 5. With nothing selected, under the "Insert" tab, choose a "Stacked Bar" chart. The chart will be blank at first, since no cells were selected. 6. Right click in the blank table and choose "Select Data."

9 Page 9 of Choose "Add." 8. For the "Series name" choose the cell with the start date title, and for the "Series values" choose the cells that contain the start dates. Push play on the video to the right to see this step demonstrated. 9. Add a second series using the same method and for the "Series name" choose the cell with the duration title, and for the "Series values" choose the cells that contain the duration values. Your bar chart

10 Page 10 of 15 should look similar to the one on the right. Do not close the "Select Data Source" box yet. 10. Choose "Edit" under the "Horizontal (Category) Axis Labels" title. For the data range highlight the cells that list the tasks. Click "OK." 11. Click was on the bars to the left to highlight them, then right click and choose "Format Data Series."

11 Page 11 of Choose "Fill" and then "No Fill." Choose "Border Color" and then "No Fill." 13. Right click on one of the tasks in the chart and choose "Format Axis." Check the box labeled "Categories in reverse order," and click "Close." 14. Excel reads dates as numeric values and you need to know numeric values of

12 Page 12 of 15 the earliest start date and the latest finish date. Copy the earliest date then do a "Paste Special" in a nearby cell and choose "Paste Link." Do the same for the latest date. Highlight them,and then change their format to "General" in the "Number Format" box. You now can see their numeric values. Using "Paste Special" is important because if you adjust either date the cells that contain the numeric values will automatically update as well. Copy the value for the earliest date. 15. While hovering over one of the dates in the chart, right click and choose "Format Axis."

13 Page 13 of Under "Axis Options," change the "Minimum" to "Fixed." Paste the value into the box and then subtract Copy the value of the latest completion date. Paste that value in the box and add 2.

14 Page 14 of 15 NOTE: You can increase or decrease the number of displayed dates by adjusting the vlaue in the "Major Unit" box. 18. Delete the legend 19. If you click once on the chart, under the "Chart Tools" and then "Design" tab, you can choose among different Chart Layouts" and "Chart Styles." Layout 5 and Style 26 are shown to the right as an example. Printing Instructions Internet Explorer Mozilla Fire - Right click in the area that con - Right click in the area that contains instruction.

15 Page 15 of 15 - Choose "Print." - In the "Options" tab, choose "Only the selected frame." - Choose "This Frame." - Choose "Print Frame." - Click Print.